The Liechtenstein-based bank and its CEO are going separate ways – ostensibly as part of a succession plan for the 58-year-old. The news comes on the heels of a profit warning from VP Bank. 

Alfred Moeckli is leaving VP Bank effective on Thursday, the Vaduz-based bank said in a statement on Tuesday. The 58-year-old's exit after six years in the job is both sudden and surprising. Operating chief Urs Monstein will stand in as CEO temporarily.

«The dissolution of the employment relationship between VP Bank and Alfred Moeckli takes place by mutual consent as part of an early age-related succession planning,» VP said. The bank's board thanked Moeckli, who had joined VP in 2013 from Zweiplus Bank, for hiking profitability and doubling its market capitalization.

Foreign Woes

Last year, Moeckli told finews.ch (in German) that he planned to enjoy the fruits of VP's success awhile longer. More recently, he was forced to issue a profit warning for 2018.
VP's business abroad has also been in the headlines: it shut a representative office in Moscow, as finews.com reported, amid lawsuits it faces in Russia. The bank's head of wealth management in Singapore also left after just ten months, as finews.com reported on Monday.